Roads and streets of the Empire (Inactive)

Game Master Escharid Blackrose

As his companions attempt to butcher one horse, Udo refocusses his efforts to save those that pulled the coach.

By his reckoning if they could save one, it would carry him and perhaps one other to safety. Let those skilled in arms, tempt the skiens of their fate.

Animal Care 37: 1d100 ⇒ 65 (Well this is going swimmingly... you lot defeat the Dullahan and feckless Udo is trampled by the panicked coach horses... Further -3SL to add to the -1SL from above. Safely say I'm knocking this course of action on the head.)

However these were coach horses, not the quarry mules he was more used to; spirited, hurt and scared...

In his mind he could swear the voice of his Meister was conjured;

Udo you oaf. You're no man of Taal. Beasts are not your forte! Stones and the dead lad! Stones and the dead!

Horse Defends (45): 1d100 ⇒ 90

The horse is caught flat-hooved, as the rapier strikes a particulary sensitive point of its anatomy

Endurance test -20 (25): 1d100 ⇒ 13

it shows its resilience, however, and is only groggy for a few precious moments. Stunned 1 round, so no attack. Advantage +1 to Konrad

But the rider of the massive mount doesn't see too kindly to Konrad display of his fencing abilities, and the Dullahan rushes to defend his horse

My mount you dared to hurt, my axe will have you cut!

Charge (85): 1d100 ⇒ 95

Too caught in his fury, he mistimes his strike, and the duellist escapes unscathed-so far.

you missed my attack on the horse as

Drop the horse! I believe in you, Felver

”Magic! Magic now! Surround him or we are all dead! Do it!” The duelist called out. Before he attacked he wanted every advantage possible. Even a civilian with a dagger would be useful in getting his rapier in, so long as the enemy could be distracted.

Outnumbering bonuses are up. If you can please get in. With his WS we need every advantage we can get

Felver dmg Str 3+Wp4+SL2=9, will allow no defense of the horse as it's stunned by the Rapier (Fast weapon), horse is a little wouded by hammer (3 wounds) and Rapier (4 wounds and stunned)

Realized that the horse is likely still stunned. While we could really use the outnumbering of the horseman, on reflection I think it's best to just finish the horse.

Turning his attention to the legendary foe before him, Konrad realized that chances were he was going to die. Despite his best efforts he had gotten it’s attention. His rapier lashed out…he knew that they had to run. Their only chance was taking down the damned horse!

Hit fencing 55 + 2 advantage and outnumber 10 to 20?: 1d100 ⇒ 30

Another impale! : 1d100 ⇒ 96
Thats a good one! Head, right?
”5 wounds and The blow smashes your entire face, destroying your eye and nose in a cloud of blood. Gain 3 Bleeding, 3 Blinded and 2 Stunned Conditions. Lose your eye and nose — Amputation (Hard)”
Assuming still stunned so doesn’t defend…
SL5 to 6, Str3 Weapon4 Crit5 and defenses 6. 11 to 12 wounds? On top of the current 7 and bleed 3. That should drop it?
That would bring advantage for Konrad up to 3

His blade went for the horse’s eye. If it could go down then they could run. There was no way that the figure could catch them all on foot…right?

Imrik wipes sweat from his brow as the horrifying creature turns towards the rest of them and tries to send a magical Dart at the headless being.

Cool Check+5: 1d100 ⇒ 81

Speak Language- Magick+5: 1d100 ⇒ 36

Still scared, but even with the -1 SL that is still +2 SL I believe. It would hit the 63 which is the body.

Damage is Dart +0, WP +5, SL +2= 7 Damage.

Udo hears Konrad's rallying cry and with a resigned sigh at his simple knife he moves toward the grand melee...

Cool 42: 1d100 ⇒ 77 Royally affected by Fear right?

As he nears the Dullahan, the stoic artisan gives pause at the prospect of engaging the fearsome creature, his blade and arm unsteady...

He calls upon his patron god to give him the willpower to die well;

"By Morr's fate!"

Guessing I can't attack as well? (even with the -1 SL from Fear)

will wait to see if the horse is still up after Konrad's attack?

The horse is badly wounded, and if it isn't killed on the spot, it bleeds too much to be saved.19 Wounds out of 23, Bleed 3, but no more stunned. It tries to kick at Konrad, without any success, his legs failing him, blood obscuring its vision

Horse Attack 45: 1d100 ⇒ 83 SL-4
Horse defends 45: 1d100 ⇒ 95 SL-5

My horse, alas, is nearly dead. Prepare to lose your very head.

unfazed by the elf's spell, which he takes in stride, the Dullahan uses his axe, willing to commit bloody murder on the fencer

Attack 75: 1d100 ⇒ 20 SL 5 on Konrad, targeting the head.
defends 75: 1d100 ⇒ 84 SL -1

I need to re-read the rules on Advantages, not sure if Konrad keeps ot as it's not the same target

Last fortune! 55 with advantage 3 and outnumber 20: 1d100 ⇒ 19 SL 4, goes to 6 with outnumber

If you out-number an opponent 2 to 1, you gain a bonus of +20 to
hit your opponent in melee combat. If you outnumber an enemy
by 3 to 1, you get an even larger bonus of +40 to hit.

Page 164: advantage lasts for the entire combat. By my reading of that, so long as the combat continues, so does your advantage. Which makes defeating weaker opponents advantageous before moving onto a stronger one

...at the last second Konrad raised his blade and turned aside. He felt his arm go number from the impact, but he at least deflected it aside.

waiting to see what everyone else does before Konrad attacks again or disengages. Advantage is up to 4, and disengaging would bring it down to 0. Best chance to win the fight would be to keep stacking up the advantage. With 55 fencing, 4 advantage and outnumber 3-1? That can make hitting (and winning) quite easy. Though with no fortune left, it's very scary!

Even with enemies pressing him left and right, the Dullahan doesnt seem to miss a beat, parrying the first few blows easily.

The headless fighter is fearsome in close-fighting.

No outnumbering bonus so far (Combat Master trait).Trying to be subtle about it so you can make your own decision

Cool 37: 1d100 ⇒ 94

Sigmar Im Himmel, Gottfried curses as he turns and bolts for the tree line.

Fencing 55 and advantage 4: 1d100 ⇒ 35 SL6
Defense 55 and hopefully advantage 5: 1d100 ⇒ 45 Hopefully SL6

Seeing Gottfried run, Konrad did the dumbest thing in his life. He stabbed at the figure, and yelled ”Everyone, run! Get the girl from the carriage and run you fools!” He didn’t know why he did it. He had never been a particularly heroic person…but this was a duel, in its own way. The most dangerous duel he had ever been in. With adrenaline coursing through his body, he thought to himself First blood! If I get first blood I win. He had killed the horse and he would duel Dallahan. Then everyone would have to admit that he was worth a reputation. The logical part of his brain said that this was idiotic, but he had done it despite himself. The only question would be whether he would live long enough to regret his decision.

If you pull this off? You'll be legend!!!! This is your short term goal completed as well.

It will certainly be the most hard earned 50xp one could ever have!

On another totally unrelated note? Been nice knowing you albeit briefly...

Felver charges the creature attempting to strike it with his hammer

WS 46 + melee 5 + outnumber and charge?: 1d100 ⇒ 43

As Gottfried breaks for the trees and Konrad urges the disperate group to run for their lives, the burly artisan falters further...

Someone must bring back the bodies. See them planted it the Gardens.

He too begins to back hastily away from the combat, toward the wreckage of the carriage;

"Morr wills it."

Sorry, took time to re-read everything on Friday posts, hope to get it right. Don't be afraid to disagree as I'm no expert. Dullanhan attack SL 5 +4 weapon+6 Str= 15 wounds. Konrad defense SL 7 (85-19) (no Outnumber), TOU 4, Buckler 1=12 defense so 15-9 =3 dmg to Head, lose advantage.

Even with an expert defense, the weight of the axe and the physical power of the Dullahan, fuelled by his rage against the man who mortally wounded his faithful steed, was too much for Konrad's rapier.

Blood runs on his cheek, but the duelist realises how close he was to a fatal strike from the axe.

Do you want to (freely) reconsider your actions, as you just lost your Advantage?

If he has SL5 and I have SL7 then the attack fails, right?

Ho you're right! So no wounds for you and you keep your advantage! Sorry for that bad start! Lets see how it fares against your attacks

Defends vs SL6 (75): 1d100 ⇒ 77 Fails and fumble
Attack (75): 1d100 ⇒ 88 fails and fumble

Can't believe it..Using its Fortune rerolls
Defends vs SL6 (75): 1d100 ⇒ 3 SL 7! Attack is blocked, no more advantage I think
Attack (75): 1d100 ⇒ 73 SL 0 vs Konrad

Felver got 46+5+10= 61 for attack, rolls 43 so SL2
Defends vs SL2 (75): 1d100 ⇒ 53 SL 2, But the Dullahan skill is higher so blocked

Going for broke! Never tried this before, so let’s see how it goes. Konrad has 1 advantage from winning opposed test. Dullahan has 1 advantage from winning opposed test vs Felver.

Beat Blade to remove dullahan’s advantage: 1d100 ⇒ 21 Succeeds. 1 advantage Konrad and 0 advantage Dullahan

Resience: “I Will Not Fail!: Rather than roll the result of a Test, you may choose the number instead, allowing you to succeed in even the direst of situations. In an Opposed Test, you always win by at least 1 Success Level (SL). You can even choose to do this on a Test already failed.”

Choosing to roll an 22 which is a critical hit to right arm. Win by 1 regardless of defense roll

Critical: 1d100 ⇒ 98

“Wounds 5 Your tendons are cut by the blow, leaving your arm hanging useless — Amputation (Very Hard). Gain 3 Bleeding, 1 Prone, and 1 Stunned Condition. Pass a Hard (–20) Endurance Test or gain the Unconscious Condition.“

SL3 + Advantage 1 + Str 3 + Weapon 4, + Crit 5, minus defenses

”Sigmar!” Konrad called out, in desperation. He wanted to make an oath but there was no time. The creature’s axe was obviously deadly, and Felver had refused to flee. He knew that if he ran now, he could use his advantage to break free, but the pit fighter wouldn’t be able to. The creature was facing the man, and if he turned to run he would be cut down. The logical part of his brain said to leave the man to his fate. He owed him nothing. Truly, it was better to let him slow the creature down. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. And he hated how stupid he was. So instead he prayed to Sigmar, asking the deity to guide his blade. The blade went out, and in any mortal creature he knew that it would cut a tendon. It would cripple the arm. No mortal man would ever use it again from such a blow. Now the horse was dead and the figure was knocked to the ground and couldn’t wield it’s axe. Though with the other arm functional it could still use it’s insane strength.

”Felver, run! Now’s our chance, for the love of Sigmar, run!”

If the man insisted on staying, it was on him. But he knew that this was their only chance. It was time to escape.

Defense 55 with advantage 2 if needed: 1d100 ⇒ 22

As he continues to move away from the deadly duel, Udo pauses to stoop at where the crumpled coachman lies.

He reaches down, whispering to the Old Hanz;

"Alas I have no skills in healing old man, but know I will see you buried should Morr welcome you to his realm."

Are we tracking rounds some how?

Imrik realizes there is not as much to fear, but thats about it.

Cool+5%: 1d100 ⇒ 50

Speak Language Magick +5%: 1d100 ⇒ 73

The rolls are not going my way there. But that SL1 should end the fear.

With a defiant strike, the duelist rapier covers itself in blood, as it cuts deeply in the Dullahan's arm

Unconscious? (45): 1d100 ⇒ 93

The headless horse-less man struggles to stay up, before falling on the bloodied snow, clutching its wounded arm.

All around is unerringly calm...

Felver stands looking at the fallen enemy having not landed a hard blow on him nodding and saying he bleeds so he is mortal.. Felver takes his hammer and thrusts straight just below where the head is missing to finish the damned fight not waiting for the thumb of the ruler or the crowd to tell him what should be done with a dangerous opponent.

hammer time: 1d100 ⇒ 58

Imrik says, "What a foul creature. Why did it seem so upset with the human we were traveling with? I have never heard of such a thing."

Imrik considers what he might know about such a creature.

All I have is Lore Magic, so I will try that.

Lore Magic +5%: 1d100 ⇒ 87

Nope...

Konrad watched numbly as Felver ensured that the headless and horseless horseman stayed down. He couldn't believe that they were still alive. The creature had decapitated a horse with a single swing of it's axe! And yet...and yet he had managed to bring it down. It didn't seem real. Still, the urge to call out to everyone to run was there, though it no longer made sense to do so.

At length he took his blade and looked at it, noting the blood. Felver was right. The monstrous figure could bleed, and that meant that it could die. After he struck it, Konrad took the point of his blade and placed it where the heart would be, and then slowly pushed it in.

Felver had kept his cool, Konrad thought. It must have been because he was a pitfighter, and as such had been in life or death situations before. For Konrad, this was the first time he had ever been in one. Certainly, he had killed before. But it had been an accident. Nobody was trying to kill anyone. This was different. But...but this did prove to himself that he was capable enough. It was a good feeling to have heard earned self-confidence, rather than just empty bravado.

"Even with this, I am not certain that it will stay down. It didn't even have a head! Should we burn it? Or make a stretcher and take it to a church of Sigmar?" Konrad asked, looking at his companions for direction.

Hearing an end to the fighting, Hilde pokes her head out of the overturned carriage. The light of the lantern next to her gives her night-blindness and she squints to make out anything around her.

"Erm, are you all dead now? Hello? Is someone out there?"

Not hearing the screaming of his companions, he turns and looks upon what seeeeems to be a defeated headless horseman...

Is this... one of those stories where it's just a disguise and he's gonna gasp he'd have gotten away with it if it wasn't for meddling kids?

He turns and starts walking back towards the group.

Felver bends down and takes the axe from the fallen enemy and then checks the other two for any valuables as well as the coach saying gather the horses, burn the corpse, and let us depart and get to town before some other fool thing happens

Hacking and slashing at the fallen Dullahan, just to be totally sure it's dead, at least as dead as it can be, the passengers from the broken carriage search for valuables and anything that can help them.

Old Hans, the carriage driver, is dead, and none of the horses can be saved. Snow falls again, and you hear, in the distance, the howls of many wolves. Hallt shouldn't be too far, and hopefuly the wolves will be feasting on the horses and dead corpses.

But on Hexennacht, does hope still exist?

Seeing Felver take the axe, Konrad began to strip Dullahan’s armor as best he could. He needed good leather armor anyways, for his profession, and at least with this it would be a reminder of this night. Certainly it would have to be cleaned, but at least it would be most intact. Hearing wolves howl and feeling the snow come down, he rushed on the stripping the corpse, knowing that there were mundane matters to consider.

alright the horses could not be saved and we need to make haste to the town. Anything not wanted can be sold to pay for lodging in the town. Let's follow the road and get there shall we? Felver keeps his mind on business moving as quickly as possible to gather the various items. did the coachman or anyone have a good cloak or coat? If so I take that too

Brunhilde grabs her few belongings from the upturned wagon, then clambers out to get her bearings in the snow. Death is not a new thing for her, but looking around at the dead and dying, she holds her breath and waits for everyone to stop looting the corpses. On another day, she would have been next to them, trying to scrounge anything of worth, but she just wants this night to be over.

Grabbing the lantern from the coach, she pulss her thin cloak around her and starts marching down the path in the direction she believes will lead her to Hallt.

"Come on now, people. All this gear won't save you when two dozen frozen and starving wolves arrive. Best not to be here, eh? I've got the lantern, and I'm leading, so shake a leg!"

"This." Konrad grunted, as he tried to get the creature's armor off. "Is my trophy. Something to remember this day by. Can't buy this anywhere else. Without this, by tomorrow even I'll be questioning whether this was real. So help me out, will you?" He added, stopping at the sounds of wolves howling. His fingers numb and teeth chattering, he added "Please?"

Seeing Konrad not budge from his task, Brunhilde curses in frustration and turns away from everyone else for a second, seemingly needing to get her fear and anger under control.

She finally turns around and begins stalking toward Konrad, her dagger held in one hand and the lantern on the other.

"Fine! Let's get this done then. I don't want to have to add your death to my conscience as well," she mutters as she trudges through the snow.

Upon reaching the duelist, she puts down the lantern next to the creature's corpse, and begins cutting the straps holding the armor roughly with her dagger.

As the others pick over the Dullahan's corpse, Udo's brow furrows as he stands surveying the carnage;

"The dead should be buried. Alas I cannot carry Old Hans and the creature's victim both. I would bid that Goswin's head and corpse should also be borne by us... Let any coin and belongings pay for their internment to Morr's Kingdom."

The sombre artisan binds the the coachman's arms and legs together with rags from his slingbag then hefts the body o'er his shoulder. Knew I'd find a use for those apparently useless rags :)

Testing the weight, he takes a few exploratory steps...

Have ENC limit of 9 and 0 points at present. No idea what a body would weigh..?

Imrik will point to the door on the cart and say, "If we can rip the door the rest of the way off, we can lay the bodies on it and take turns in pairs dragging them. The axe will be good to quickly get the door off." Imrik will move to gather rope used to hold the now dead horses to the cart so that they can tie down the bodies and drag them.

Hilde's head snaps up from her work cutting the armor off the corpse as the others discuss dragging the bodies. Her eyes grow wide in confusion and exasperation.

"What? Are you crazy? You want to drag along a decaying body to the nearest village? Do you realize how much that will slow us down? Do you want to be left behind? Plus the fact that you'll be dragging something covered in blood along with you. What else do you want to do to attract the wolves, perhaps kill a few rabbits and attach those to your privates?"

”Gods, this is going to cost a copper to fix…” Konrad grumbled as his prize was hacked away. Then, louder he said ”Morr can watch them from here. She is right, dragging bloody corpses isn’t feasible. We can tell the town guard where to find them when we arrive.”

GM: Just out of curiosity, what are we noticing about this creature as we get up close and personal to it? Does it have a human or humanoid body, or does it seem like what we would consider an undead of some kind? Is it a faerie? We obviously don't know a lot about this world, but we should able to draw some conclusions now that we can see its entire body up close.

If the Dullahan sword is unclaimed, he'll take that. A fine sword will go some distance in making him look more respectable. People don't tend to trust people with axes but the monied folk seemed to go with swords.

He then begins cutting meat off one of the horses. No telling when they'll see shelter or food... and horse flesh, chilled by the cold, can be eaten raw in a pinch.

If we want to save the bodies for burial? Lock them in the carriage... wolves would eat the dead horses, and the bodies will rot slowly in this cold. We can have them buried later.

Udo stands stoic as he listens to Brunhilde's tirade, his mind recalling his own Dooming;

When abandoned and alone, Morr shalt befriend thee.

The burly artisan shows little reaction when Konrad adds his voice, but at Gottfried's solution he blinks, then nods slowly;

"Aye Gottfried. Keeping them in the carriage until they can be recovered and planted in Morr's Garden is acceptable."

Carrying first Hans body, Udo makes his way to the carriage, laying the old man gently inside. He then moves to where Goswin's bloody corpse lay.

A heavy man. Weighed by excess. Lighter now without his head.

Turning to the others, voice flat and sombre;

"Have you all picked over his effects? If so I will inter him to the coach."

@Brunhilde: this will answer some of your questions.

While Brunhilde helps Konrad with the Dullahan's armor, they both notice something odd-well, even odder than an headless horseman.

Meanwhile, Felver indeed finds a warm, if tattered and bloody, cloak on Old Hans's cold body, and Imrik shows his ressourcefullness with a quick and brilliant plan to drag the deceased to the town. But Gottfried, trying the Dullahan's sword, has a simpler idea, which could work too. Udo starts to work on it, dragging first Old Hans, then Goswin, into the carriage, to protect them from the wolves.

@Udo, Gottfried, Imrik and Felver: Will need an Average (+20) Perception (Initiative) roll to find Goswin's cut hand in the snow. His head is obvious to find. I guess Udo will put it in the carriage too.

Perception 47 (27, Average +20): 1d100 ⇒ 28

Udo trudges back to recover Goswin's head, then stoops to collect the man's severed hand.

As he stoically returns the body parts to the carriage, he gestures toward his grisly cargo with a question;

"Hand and head. Some sort of ritual killing? Or is that how a practised battlefield butcher would do it?"

Udo looks more to Konrad and Felver with his last question.

Cool: 1d100 ⇒ 96

Upon seeing the mutation, Konrad stared in horror. Then he started to chuckle, and then he laughed. He laughed until tears rolled down his face and he laughed as he gathered up the armor and stowed it away. ”Pointed ears!” He managed to say. Finally he stopped, a pained look on his face. ”Was it an elf or did it kill one?” He looked around at the others searching for body parts, taking in the horror of the situation…

The boy had seen post fight shakes and melt downs before... especially when the one who was affected had won ahead of the odds. It was like the body couldn't believe it was still alive.

He did for Konrad what others had done for him after he'd had a few one sided fights and somehow walked away. Hell, it was the same words, more or less.

Hey... you're still here. You're still alive. Which means you won!, he says clapping a hand on his shoulder.

Then he gave him a rough shake.

And if you want to stay alive? Pull your s#** together friend! We have to get out of here.

Cool 40: 1d100 ⇒ 11

Brunhilde stares down at the body, unwilling or unable to look away from the pure horror that is revealed there. Luckily her gaze is interrupted as Konrad steps between her and it as he begins to rant about something. In that moment, she tears herself away, dropping her knife and running a few paces into the woods in an absolute panic. She collapses onto all fours and desperately tries to calm her breath and heart as she repeats to herself over and over again: "It's only a dream, it's only a dream."

Luckily the feeling lasts only a few moments, and she pulls herself up on a young tree into a standing position.

"Everyone stay away from the body," she yells out to the group. "It's not right, not right at all."